President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil unleashed on President Obama today. It was rather entertaining to say the least.
My guess is that most analysts will say that this is a reaction to the NSA stories. Yes it is but I think that this is another sign that Latin American leaders are sick and tired of the indifference shown by this administration.
Can you recall a US president so uninterested in US-Latin America issues? I can't.
Here is a bit of President Rousseff's speech:
"Tampering in such a manner in the lives and affairs of other countries is a breach of international law and, as such, it is an affront to the principles that should otherwise govern relations among countries, especially among friendly nations," Rousseff told the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. She also proposed an international framework for governing the internet and said Brazil would adopt legislation and technology to protect it from illegal interception of communications. "Information and telecommunication technologies cannot be the new battlefield between states. Time is ripe to create the conditions to prevent cyberspace from being used as a weapon of war, through espionage, sabotage, and attacks against systems and infrastructure of other countries," Rousseff said."
In all fairness, Dilma Rousseff is doing a little "samba" for her Brazilian audience. She is also a bit hypocritical because there is a lot of spying going on in Brazil and other Latin American countries.
In other words, don't cry for Dilma's privacy anytime soon!
I believe that this UN speech was rooted on two issues:
First, there is a lot of discontent down in Brazil about the spending related to the World Cup and Olympics. We saw riots and huge demonstrations after bus fares were raised. This speech, or the attack on President Obama, is a bit of a distraction for the Brazilian president.
Second, there is concern in that President Obama only thinks of Latin America when he is pandering for votes in our immigration reform debates.
How do you say "I'm angry" in Portuguese? I don't know for sure but Dilma just sent President Obama a warning that Latin America wants more attention.
You can hear CANTO TALK here.
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